Alone
by AsunderHorizon
Summary: Richard Castle has broken Kate Beckett's cardinal rule. Is this the end of their relationship, or can they push through it for the sake of each other? Spoilers for A Death in the Family.


Richard Castle is alone.

Rain poured onto the city, the thumping of the rain on the window he only sound in his apartment. It had been one long week since everything changed. One week since his little girl started to officially grow up. One week since his mother told him to do the right thing for once. One week since he stood in that white-walled hospital hallway, looked Kate Beckett in the eyes, and told her about her mother.

He explained about the stab wounds, he explained the report by the best forensic pathologist this side of Chicago, he explained how her mother was not the victim of "random gang violence", but her murder combined with several others in the same time frame pointed to a serial killer.

He caught her as she collapsed into his arms, tears rolling down her cheeks and onto his jacket. He wrapped his arms around her and just held her, feeling her body shake with each sob. His heart sunk when he inadvertently realizes what he just done; opening a Pandora's Box of emotions within the usually strong detective.

For a time he cannot remember, they stood there in silence. A silence disturbed only by the slowing sobs of the detective he had pressed to his breast. The tears stopped rolling and the detective's head lifted him, inches from his own. He saw the tears on her cheeks, in her eyes. The little makeup she wore ruined by his revelation. Her eyes already say what her mouth is about to. He closes his eyes as she says them.

"Leave. Please."

She took a step back as she finished those words, right arm draped across her chest and holding her left, head bowed. He nodded and turned towards the exit, forcing himself to take steps towards it. After several, he stopped. He turned and looked back at her, still in the same position, her eyes staring at the tiled floor.

"I'm sorry, Kate." He was sincere. "You deserved to know."

With that, he left the hospital.

It was several days later when he got the phone call from Captain Montgomery. The call was brief and expected. Due to repeated acts of disobeying orders, he was no longer allowed to shadow Detective Beckett. She was true to her word; they were done. It was a claim she never would have made under normal circumstances. A lunch with Ryan and Esposito revealed that since that day in the hospital Beckett had become distant, not carrying her usual snark. It pained him to know that he was the reason for all of this.

Even his justification for it was starting to wear down. Did he really have the right to go snooping around her past, even when expressly forbidden not to go digging? He wasn't so sure anymore. She deserved to know, but at what cost? He didn't consider the possibility that she could lose her drive for justice. He had only reopened wounds ten years in the making.

Richard Castle. Not a smart ass. A jack ass.

So here he is. Sitting in his study, watching New York City become drenched in late spring rain. The laptop sits off and closed on his desk, untouched for days. He is now alone.

A knock on the door jolts him from his thoughts, but he does not move. He was the only one home right now and wasn't expecting visitors. He rubbed his chin, his usually barely unshaven look replaced by a full set of hair. He didn't care. He had no reason to.

Another knock and Castle is moving from the chair, walking out of his study towards the door to his apartment. Taking longer than he should have, he opened the door. His eyes widened with surprise as he full observes Detective Kate Beckett in front of him, eyes stern. Castle tried his hardest to put on one of his charm grins, failed miserably and only managed a weak smile.

"Detective Beck—". He was interrupted as she decked him square in the jaw, sending him spiraling to the floor. He deserved that, he figured.

She steps into the apartment and closes the door behind her. She moves to where Castle was slowly recovering, she lifts his chin with one finger and they make eye contact, sending his pulse racing.

"Castle, if you ever do anything like what did again I will shoot you, do you understand?"

Rick nods, grasping the word _again_, realizing it implies a second chance. Beckett sighs, and continues.

"You're a brash idiot. But I realize I need your help." She hesitates, hating herself for admitting weakness and admitting she needs him. "If your friend is right, and a serial killer with this M.O. was never caught, it means he's still out there. And if he is, I'm going to find him. He's going to answer for what he did not only to my mother, but to the other victims as well. It isn't going to be easy, but like you said, you have resources. And as much as I hate to admit, you would have made a good detective. I need your help on this, Castle. Are you in?"

He is taken aback. He was entirely convinced she wanted nothing to do with him, and now she's asking for his help to find her mother's killer. There isn't a chance in hell he's going to say no.

Rick picks himself up off of the floor and smiles, one of the goofy ones Beckett missed.

"For you, detective? I'd do anything for you."

She bit her bottom lip. God did he love that.

"Get cleaned up Castle. We've got work to do."

They were together again. Partners. Maybe no friends again, not yet. But this was a start. Rick continued to hold that smile.

Richard Castle was no longer alone.


End file.
